Victim speaks out after Grafham axe attack

A taxi driver was attacked with an axe and robbed by a passenger in an isolated part of Huntingdonshire.

Anisur Rahman said he had been left traumatised by the attack – the second time he has been assaulted in a year.

The 32-year-old from St Ives said he picked up a man dressed in black from Huntingdon Railway Station at about 7pm last Wednesday (March 12) and drove him to Church Road, Grafham.

When Mr Rahman, of Redmoor Close, stopped, the passenger claimed he had no money and would ask in a nearby house if they had some.

“The man came back and said they didn’t have any money,” Mr Rahman told The Hunts Post. “I could see someone in the house drinking, so I asked the man to ask him if he could pay.

“The passenger came to the driver’s side of the car so I opened the window as I thought he was going to pay me, but he just hit me on the side of my head with an axe. It was the blunt side. I was knocked unconscious for about five seconds. He asked me for money, so I told him it was in the door. He took my change and my earnings from the day, which was about £150.

“He then ran off down an alleyway. I just sat in the car, locked the doors and called the police.

“I think he took me to an isolated place to attack me and the axe was hidden in his jacket. I was at the front of the queue at the station when he asked me to take him, but it could have been any of us.”

Mr Rahman said he had been unable to go back to work as the attack had brought on panic attacks.

“I may just have to pick up people that I know and have booked,” he said. “The thought of taking someone I don’t know to somewhere isolated leaves me confused and I get a panic attack. It’s affecting me financially and I still have pain in my head.”

The attacker was described as skinny, in his early 20s, about 5ft 6in and wore a black hat and a hood. He was carrying a large rucksack.

It was the second attack in eight months Mr Rahman has suffered. In August last year he was punched and kicked by a couple who refused to pay after he took them from St Ives to Cambridge.

A man was jailed for three-and-a-half months following that incident.

Mr Rahman added: “It’s getting worse day by day. It’s really bad. If you don’t have the money to pay, just run away. Don’t attack the taxi driver. We are just providing a service.”

Detective constable Liz Cooper said: “This was a nasty incident and we are keen to trace the man responsible.

“Taxi drivers should be able to go about their business without fearing being attacked or robbed and we will not tolerate such offending.”

INFORMATION: Anyone with any information should call DC Cooper on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.